There are numerous ways of securing an electrical connector or the like to a circuit board. For example, the connector may be provided with mounting flanges having bores therethrough for accepting threaded mounting bolts that extend through corresponding through-holes of the circuit board and are secured by nuts or the like on the opposite side of the board. In many instances, however, it is more desirable to have a board mounting or board lock device that does not require mounting flanges on the connector or the use of tools. In addition it is desirable to minimize the space on the circuit board such that the mounting devices for the connector are secured within the cavities of the housing.
Mounting devices or board locks that can be secured within a housing typically have compliant portions that can be compressed upon inserting the board lock into a through-hole of a circuit board and that resile outwardly to engage surfaces within the through-hole. When using board lock devices that engage inner surfaces of a through-hole it is desirable to have a high enough retention force to hold the connector on the board during soldering. A problem associated with board locks having a low insertion and low retention force is that if the circuit board is flexed a sufficient amount, the board lock may move upwardly in the through-hole such that the housing may be lifted off the board. A board lock with a high retention force typically requires a high insertion force, which makes it harder to mount the connectors to the board.
Other board locks may use compliant beams having latch surfaces that engage the lower surface of the circuit board to which the connector is a attached. When using board locks that engage the opposite surface of a circuit board, the beams need to have sufficient length to a accommodate tolerance variations in the thickness of the circuit board so that the board lock will engage the surface if the board is slightly thicker than nominal as well as thinner than nominal. Thus when a connector is mounted to a board that is on the thinner end of the range the connector may not be held securely against the upper surface of the circuit board during the soldering process. The soldered connector thus will not be in the desired position for mating with another connector.